Ashikaga Bank, now under temporary state control, said Friday it will eliminate 15 percent of its workforce by the end of fiscal 2006 as part of its new business improvement program.

The restructuring plan will reduce the size of the workforce to 2,200 from 2,600 at the troubled bank, which was nationalized Dec. 1 through the government's seizure of all outstanding shares for zero yen.

The regional bank, based in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, announced the business improvement plan as well as its financial results for the year to March 31.